NJFAMS/HESAA award status not showing up anywhere - FAFSA confusion

The NJFAMS portal is always a bit behind the FAFSA processing. For my daughter, HESAA awards didn't appear until about 3-4 weeks after we got the first school's financial aid package. Your FAFSA needs to be fully processed first, then HESAA reviews your information, and only after that will anything show up in NJFAMS. Their system is notoriously slow to update.

You might want to check a few things: 1) Verify your FAFSA lists at least one NJ school (required for HESAA consideration), 2) Make sure your FAFSA is fully processed with an official SAI score, not just submitted, 3) Confirm you're a NJ resident (sounds obvious but this trips people up), and 4) Double check you've created your NJFAMS account with the same email you used for FAFSA. Also, have you checked if there are any "to-do" items in your NJFAMS account? Sometimes they require additional verification before processing.

my son got his njfams stuff like 5 weeks after fafsa went thru. dont worrie too much yet

I HAD THE EXACT SAME PROBLEM LAST YEAR!!! Turned out our SAI was $100 over the cutoff for the TAG grant! The NJFAMS system doesn't even show you anything when you don't qualify - they just leave it blank which is SO CONFUSING. Call them and ask specifically if your SAI is within their eligibility range. But warning - I spent HOURS trying to reach someone at HESAA last year.

If you're still having trouble reaching HESAA by phone, I'd recommend checking out Claimyr (claimyr.com). I was in the same boat last year with the NJ TAG grant issues and spent days trying to get through. Claimyr helped me skip the wait and connect with an agent who confirmed my eligibility status in about 10 minutes. They have a video showing how it works: https://youtu.be/TbC8dZQWYNQ. It was pretty straightforward and saved me a ton of frustration when dealing with HESAA's phone system.

Its kinda weird bc differnt schools handle the NJ grants diffrent. My daughters community college included the HESAA estimate in her first aid package but Rutgers didn't mention it at all until way later. So the schools your looking at might just not be showing the state aid yet even if you qualify. Whats your EFC/SAI? Thats usually how they decide

Don't forget there's also the deadline factor - FAFSA filed by April 15th for TAG eligibility for fall+spring, or Sept 15th for spring-only grants. So if you filed late last year, that could be why nothing shows up.

With an SAI of 12800, you're likely above the cutoff for the full NJ TAG grant, but you might still qualify for a partial award depending on the cost of attendance at your schools. For 2024-2025, the highest TAG cutoff was around 11500 for highest-cost private schools, but the community college cutoff was much lower (around 5000). The exact numbers change each year with funding. Here's what I suggest: 1) Wait another 2-3 weeks for NJFAMS to update, 2) Contact your schools' financial aid offices specifically about NJ state aid - they often know your status before it appears in NJFAMS, and 3) If all else fails, get through to HESAA directly to check your status.

u can also talk to ur childs guidance councelor, ours had access to some kind of portal to check this stuff and saved us a bunch of time last year

I just checked with my daughter - it took exactly 31 days between her FAFSA being fully processed and the NJFAMS information appearing in her account. And she did qualify even with an SAI around 11200, so you might be close to the cutoff but not necessarily over it. The system is just painfully slow.

Just wanted to add that you can also check the NJFAMS FAQ section - they actually have a status checker tool that's separate from the main dashboard. It's buried in their help section but it can tell you if your application is "under review" vs "not eligible" vs "pending documentation." I found it by accident when I was dealing with a similar issue last year. The main dashboard stays blank until everything is finalized, but the status checker gives you a bit more insight into what's actually happening behind the scenes.

I'm in the exact same boat! Filed my FAFSA in early January, got it processed about 3 weeks ago, and my NJFAMS dashboard is completely empty too. My SAI is around 10,500 so I'm hoping I'm under the cutoff, but the lack of any information is so frustrating. I've gotten financial aid packages from two schools already but like you said, no mention of NJ state grants anywhere. Reading through these responses is actually really helpful - sounds like we just need to be patient for another few weeks. I'm definitely going to try calling the financial aid offices at my schools tomorrow to see if they have any insight. Thanks for posting this question because I was starting to think I did something wrong!

I'm going through the exact same thing! My FAFSA was processed about a month ago and my NJFAMS dashboard is still completely blank. My SAI is around 9,800 so I'm really hoping I qualify for something. What's been driving me crazy is that I got accepted to three NJ schools and received their financial aid packages, but none of them mention state grants at all. I called Rowan's financial aid office last week and they basically said "HESAA processes separately, just wait" which wasn't very helpful. I'm definitely going to try that status checker tool that Isaac mentioned - I had no idea there was a separate tool buried in their help section. It's so frustrating that the main dashboard just stays blank instead of giving you ANY indication of what's happening. Thanks for posting this because I was starting to panic that I missed some deadline or messed something up!

I'm dealing with the exact same situation! FAFSA processed about 3 weeks ago, SAI around 11,400, and my NJFAMS dashboard is completely empty. I've gotten financial aid packages from Rutgers and TCNJ but no mention of state aid anywhere. What's really frustrating is that I called HESAA twice this week and couldn't get through either time - just endless hold music before the call dropped. Based on everyone's responses here, it sounds like we're all in the same boat with the timing, so I'm trying to be patient for another few weeks. I'm definitely going to try calling the schools directly tomorrow to see if they have any insight, and I'm going to hunt around for that status checker tool Isaac mentioned. Thanks for posting this - it's reassuring to know this seems to be normal processing delays rather than us missing something important!

I'm experiencing the exact same issue! My FAFSA was processed about 4 weeks ago and my NJFAMS dashboard is still completely blank. My SAI is around 10,200, so based on what everyone's sharing here, I should hopefully be under the cutoff. I've received financial aid packages from two schools already but like everyone else, no mention of NJ state grants. What's been really helpful reading through all these responses is realizing this seems to be completely normal timing - it sounds like HESAA just takes 4-6 weeks after FAFSA processing to update NJFAMS. I'm definitely going to look for that hidden status checker tool Isaac mentioned, and I might try calling the schools directly since that seems more productive than trying to reach HESAA. Thanks for posting this question because I was also starting to panic that I'd missed something important!

I'm going through the exact same frustrating situation! My FAFSA was processed about 3.5 weeks ago, my SAI is around 11,100, and my NJFAMS dashboard is completely empty too. I've gotten financial aid packages from two NJ schools but zero mention of state grants anywhere. Reading through everyone's responses here has been SO helpful - it sounds like we're all experiencing the normal (though painfully slow) HESAA timeline. I'm definitely going to try calling my schools' financial aid offices tomorrow since that seems more productive than trying to reach HESAA directly. I'm also going to hunt around for that hidden status checker tool Isaac mentioned - I had no idea that existed! Thanks for posting this because I was also starting to panic that I'd missed some critical deadline or form. It's reassuring to know we're all in the same boat waiting for HESAA to catch up!

I'm dealing with this exact same issue! My FAFSA was processed about 3 weeks ago, SAI is around 10,600, and my NJFAMS dashboard is completely blank too. I've received financial aid packages from Montclair and Stockton but no mention of NJ state grants anywhere. Reading through all these responses has been incredibly reassuring - it sounds like we're all experiencing the normal (albeit frustrating) HESAA timeline of 4-6 weeks after FAFSA processing. I'm definitely going to look for that hidden status checker tool Isaac mentioned and try calling my schools' financial aid offices directly tomorrow. Thanks for posting this because I was also starting to think I'd missed some crucial step or deadline. It's so helpful to know we're all in the same waiting period!